ACC
- Clemson took it easy for three quarters and fell behind
then-undefeated Wake Forest 17-3. But a fourth quarter
rally sparked by senior DE Gaines Adams’ 66-yard
fumble return resulted in 24 unanswered points and a
win for the Tigers. Adams forced that fumble and another
one, plus he had two sacks. Clemson survived four turnovers
of their own, for though they nearly doubled the Demon
Deacons in total yards, Clemson allowed Wake to hold
a lead due to mistake after mistake. Tommy Bowden’s
boys still sit behind N.C. State in the ACC Atlantic
Division standings – the Wolfpack have two embarrassing
losses, but neither Akron nor Southern Mississippi is
in the ACC, hence their 3-0 league mark. N.C. State
handled FSU at home 24-20 as Chuckie Amato (now
4-3 against his old team) looked like he still had a
copy of the Nole’s playbook. Down 20-10,
FSU’s usually staunch defense took it on the chin
during the Pack comeback. It looks like the November
11th showdown between the younger Bowden and former-Bobby
Bowden assistant coach Amato should determine who represents
their half of the conference in their league championship
game.

SEC
- The SEC landscape was somewhat cleared up with this
past Saturday’s developments. Coming in No.2,
Auburn got chumped 27-10 at home by an underdog Arkansas
squad that proved its resilience via their 11th-ranked
running game (the Hogs are the only SEC team to place
in the top 40). Tiger RB Kenny Irons may have been leading
the league coming into this one, but sophomore Hog back
Darren McFadden now does after his 145 yard performance.
Add in classmate Felix Jones’ 104 (no loss) yards
and classmate flanker Reggie Fish’s single rush
for 28 yards and you get the 279 yards rushed against
an Auburn team that had been allowing only 88 ground
yards per game. The Razorbacks allowed Auburn only 213
total yards as they scored the first ten points and
the last ten points. Auburn was tenuously the nation’s
second-best team and seemed to be the best in the SEC
after winning a defensive chess match against LSU 7-3.
But with Florida remaining unbeaten and trouncing LSU
23-10 at homecoming in Gainesville Saturday, it only
seems logical that the Gators are the clear SEC favorite.
Auburn and Florida play this weekend.
Freshman QB Tim Tebow again seemed unstoppable as he
ran for 35 yards and got the Gator’s only rushing
TD as well as throwing both of the teams scoring passes.
He went 2-for-2 on the day. UF is in the middle of a
four game SEC run that is the conference’s toughest
stretch of back-to-back competition any team has to
endure. Two “easy” home wins against Alabama
and (now) LSU mean that Urban Meyers upcoming tussles
with Tommy Tuberville and Mark Richt, both away from
the “Swamp”, will determine if these Gators
have any bite. They now easily find themselves in the
top three as USC and West Virginia keep struggling with
mediocre teams. Florida has to be happy with the fact
that since they’ve already beaten Tennessee, they
can know that they will most likely represent the SEC
East in the championship. The Vols dismantled an over-rated
Georgia defense to win 51-33 in Athens, winning the
second half 37-9. Georgia gave the ball away on their
last two possessions – one by fumble and the other
on an INT. No.8 Tennessee, now 5-1, jumped five spots
in the poll and seems to be back where they left off
before they went south with a 5-6 season in ’05.
Fulmer’s guys have to endure their own upcoming
four- game slate of league perennials - Alabama, (at)
South Carolina, LSU and then away at giant-killer Arkansas.
It would be a miracle if the SEC could refrain from
beating itself into a bunch of three-loss teams without
one that can emerge to be a BCS wildcard.

Big
12 - Unbeaten Missouri climbed five
slots in the polls to No.18 after embarrassing Texas
Tech in their Homecoming 38-21. The Tigers may have
been outgained by 150 yards, but they just had to turn
four Red Raider TOs into TDs to produce the victory.
Mizzu has a home date with Oklahoma the last week of
October and then one with unbeaten Nebraska, who also
is unbeaten in Big 12 play. Without Texas on the Missouri
horizon, this Tiger squad can go as far as they want
up the polls until they play the Longhorns in Kansas
City for the conference championship. Texas rolled over
the Sooners 28-10 in their Red River Shootout. The
Big 12 table is set, and we wait to see if
Missouri can sit with Texas come December 2nd.

Pac
Ten – Either Washington has pulled
itself up pretty far or USC has lowered its usual high
standard of play. Both seem true. USC rode the foot
of Mario Danelo to four FGs and a 26-20 win. Washington
senior QB Isaiah Stanback’s modest 17-of-38, 212
yard, two TD effort was complimented by his 33 yard
rushing total. Stanback came in fifth in the
Pac Ten 100-meter finals, but would rather
stand in the pocket. In 2006, 10 TDs and only three
INTs by the nation’s 19th-rated total offensive
machine make him invaluable and tell why the Huskies
have produced a 4-2 record. Stanback is second on the
team this year for net rushing yards with 339, but he
has gained a team high (394) without his sacks factored
in. Stanback got Washington down to the Trojan 15 when
time ran out in Los Angeles on their potential game
winning drive. The Trojans’ 28th-ranked defense
looked shoddy giving up 379 total yards, and the whole
team even gave UW 55 more net yards in penalty differential.
USC still has a daunting schedule to achieve and the
Trojans look the most vulnerable they have in the last
four years. Oregon, Cal, Arizona State and then non-con
Notre Dame all visit the Coliseum, so each/any of them
that may win there will have to earn the victory. The
November 18th tilt with their fellow front-runner Golden
Bears could decide the league’s BCS representative.
No.10 Cal roared, trouncing then-No.11 Oregon 45-24
in Berkeley and solidifying a place just below undefeated
USC. Both are left with 3-0 Pac Ten records after this
past weekend. All of those still undefeated in conference
play drew each other last Saturday.

Big
Ten – No.1 Ohio State really seems
to be the only dominant team. The Buckeyes, 35-7 winners
over Bowling Green, have won by 20+ over every foe but
Texas (which was by 17 and the three-score difference
of 24-7). Yet fourth-ranked Michigan has quietly won
all six of theirs by at least 14 as they field the nation’s
top-rated rushing defense. They also have the nation’s
best time-of-possession differential, averaging nine
more minutes with the ball than their counterparts.
The Wolverines soundly beat Michigan State 31-13, so
their trip into Happy Valley this weekend followed by
a home stand with Iowa afterwards are the only things
in the way of the season-ender with OSU (Nov. 18th)
becoming the by-default conference championship. Besides
No.25 Wisconsin, these two are the only ones in this
conference in the top 25. If the loser of the
showdown at the Horseshoe leaves with one loss, that
team could still get a BCS wildcard bid.

Big
East–
The 42-14 WVU win in Starkville over Mississippi State
solidified their No.4 ranking…or did it? It didn’t,
and the Mountaineers fell a spot as Michigan leapfrogged
them. Louisville also won Friday after falling behind
10-3 early to Middle Tennessee. The Redbirds then reeled
of 34-unanswered points to keep themselves amongst the
ranks of the eight I-A unbeatens (three are from this
conference). Neither WVU nor Louisville, both 5-0, has
played a conference game, so Pitt (5-1, 2-0) and unbeaten
No.24 Rutgers (5-0, 1-0) appear atop the Big East standings.
All four of those still undefeated in the conference
play each other, and three of them still have to play
USF. The Bulls (4-2, 1-1) looked good at home against
UConn, winning 38-16 and making freshman QB Matt Grothe
into the nation’s newest secret weapon.
The Lakeland-native went 12-of-15 for 146 yards and
one TD, and also was second on the team with 82 of their
205 rushing yards as he got three ground scores. Do
not underestimate him, and expect Grothe to upset one
of these three remaining Big East top runners. You might
just be surprised by who wins the Big East, so don’t
think WVU and Louisville are locks.

Air Force
failed in its comeback attempt after giving Navy a 24-7
head-start. Even though Air Force lived up to
its name by throwing it a season-high 19 times
to sustain a balanced offense (AFA had thrown it 22
times all year so far up til this game), Navy needed
just eight passing yards as 317 rushing yards meant
winning the time-of-possession contest on top of team
rushing. Air Force had been allowing an average of 65
on the ground coming in. Before this, the last three
games between these rivals had been three-point Navy
wins. Navy has two tough games against Rutgers and Notre
Dame next. With one loss, the Midshipmen look like they
can attain a double-digit win total for the second time
in three years.

Lagniappe

TCU
dropped another as Utah tripped them 20-7 in Salt Lake
City. The Horned Frogs are now 11-4 in games after a
loss under head coach Gary Patterson. After running
their MWC slate in ’05, TCU has yet to
win a conference game this season…On
an extended four-game skid, Fresno opened the year hopeful
to capitalize on last year’s success and garner
one of the extra BCS wildcard slots. After falling 13-12
to then-winless Utah State, which had the 117th-ranked
offense, the Bulldogs continue to look for signs
of life after Paul Pinegar. Since accepting
OC Mike Santiago’s resignation, the Aggie offense
has changed gears and had presence in two straight…According
to our SOS calculations, the team with the toughest
schedule is Stanford. The Cardinals have tanked in every
game (just lost 31-10 in South Bend), and prospects
look like they only have a chance for two wins, at best.
Walt Harris has yet to make his guys from Palo Alto
look like they can break their streak of four straight
losing seasons…East Carolina, in beating Virginia
31-21, has won only five games against BCS-aligned schools
since 2000…Hawai’i beat Nevada and is now
3-2. The Rainbow Warriors have the nation’s second-leading
passing attack as junior QB Colt Brennan is also second
in passing offense. They have definitely found life
after Timmy Chang, the NCAA’s all-time career
passing leader…Florida International has yet to
find a win, but they lead the country in tackles-for-loss
with 9.67 per game…New Mexico State leads the
nation in four categories - team and individual passing,
net punting and punt returns…OSU and UF lead I-A
defenses as each has allowed only six TDs…Louisville’s
6’6” sophomore WR, Mario Urrutia, was all-conference
as a freshman. He is now third in the nation with 23.82
yards per catch…Boise State has snuck
into the top 20 with their 55-14 win over Louisiana
Tech. The Broncos have won by 28 in three of their first
five and rank in the top 20 for all major defensive
categories. Can you say “BCS buster”?